Scandinavia
2023
Autumn in Czechia
In Czechia autumn is a season devoted to wine festivals, lantern parades, and color-drenched hikes. Czech autumn traditions are deeply rooted in the pagan past. Slavic autumn rituals involved making offerings of bread, grain porridge, or wafers and engaging in exuberant celebrations and feasting to bid farewell to Mokoša, the goddess of fertility while welcoming Morana, the goddess of winter.

Kukuřičáky has nine different corn mazes across the Czech Republic for kids and adults alike. The two mazes in Prague are located at Ďáblice and Zahradní Město, or Garden City. In addition, there is another maze located in Kutná Hora.

Dýňová FARMA BYKOŠ opened earlier this month. The farm, located southwest of Prague near Beroun is open through the weekends. Here you can take home a pumpkin for carving or decorating purposes and enjoy pumpkin-flavored goodies like pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, and mulled wine.

Further afoot Pumpkin World (Statek u Pipků) in the Vysočina region makes for a charming day trip. It will open in October and asks future visitors to follow its socials for announcements.
In addition, various farmers markets across Prague sell pumpkins and the Prague Botanical Garden hosts ongoing pumpkin activities throughout October.

An easy jaunt from Prague, Nelahozeves Castle is organizing a pumpkin festival this year. The annual Pumpkin Carving event on Oct. 21 offers pumpkin carving, chestnut craft stations chestnuts, cookie decorating, and chocolate painting. Autumn-themed foods pastries, langos, and mulled wine will be served.

If you're looking to take a hike a short distance from Prague, take a train to the sleepy village of Srbsko, situated on the Berounka River. From there, you can do a number of pretty hikes.

A 4-km meander to Tetín one of the oldest settlements in the Czech lands along the cyklotrasa, or cycle path (it’s also open to hikers) from Prague to Beroun.
A walk along the green marker to Svatý Jan pod Skalou (“Saint John under the Rock”) with its hidden caves and sweeping vista from the 17th-century churchyard.
Walk along the yellow marker towards Karlštejn Castle and hike up to the castle from behind for a roughly 7 km hike.